Really? I Really Need Serum?

Category5 is a fabulous online fashion experience dedicated to truth in fashion, shopping, and all things style. Lauren is dedicated to giving women all the tools they need to come away with an insightful, honest, and humorous look at where their style truly resides.

I have to be upfront and say that I’ve always been that chick that has been somewhat of a skeptic when it came to all this talk about needing facial serums, eye creams, and intensive moisturizers. I always did buy into the need for an exfoliator, because clearly without one my skin would like a clogged disaster area. But as for the rest, I regarded them as ways for the beauty industry to make more money. Furthermore, with little time on my hands as it is, who in the world would carve out even more to take all these extra steps in the name of beauty. While I always knew beauty fanatics would most certainly fight for the serum and cream cause, I really didn’t imagine any other women buying into this process until they hit 60 and over and started getting increasingly concerned about the lines and wrinkles that were slowly changing the dynamics of their face. But as I do consider it my mission to leave no beauty stone unturned, I went on the hunt to find out exactly what all this beauty ritualistic behavior was all about. What I learned…wow was I misguided!

From left to right: Chanel Ultra Correction Line Repair Serum- $135, sold by www.nordstrom.com; YSL Forever Youth Liberator Serum- $150, sold by www.saks.com; Prevage Advanced Anti-Aging Serum- $159, sold by www.nordstrom.com

I began with getting samples of different products (which I highly recommend). Don’t ever sit your bottom at a beauty counter and let someone talk you into spending over $100 on a serum they’ve only used on your face the one time. Believe me, they are artists, and it can be difficult to tell if it was the serum underneath all that fabulous makeup, or just the makeup that made you look beyond flawless. Get the sample! So on a sample hunt I went…trying out lines like YSL and Chanel, and of course top of the line serums such as Prevage. All this talk about protecting the skin against environmental elements and filling in lines, felt a little bit like a stretch to me. I honestly didn’t expect much from the creams and goops in each of the sample packets, until I began to see the changes in my skin. When it came to YSL’s serum, I have to say I did notice a much smoother and clearer skin, within a few days. When it came to testing out Chanel’s Line Repair serum, again, within days I began to notice a beyond fabulous difference. My skin looked radiant, clear, dare I say glowing. Now, while the YSL and Chanel serums did “move” my style mind, it was the top of the line product Prevage, retailing in the range of $159 per bottle, that set my style mind on fire. First of all the price… YIKES!!! I got nauseous just when I heard it. I immediately began thinking (and let’s be honest almost hoping) that this was a way to dupe women into spending too much money on their beauty products. It couldn’t possibly be worth all this money right? WRONG! Immediate difference. IMMEDIATE!!! This serum turned out to be a miracle in a sample packet. People began asking me, Lauren, what have you been doing with your skin, it looks so fabulous. I was moved! Isn’t that what we all want to get…compliments for all the hard work we put into simply “caring” that we don’t look like medieval beasts walking the earth!!!

So to answer my own question (and the question of sooo many others), do we really need a serum…like really??? YES!!! I want to stay beautiful as long as I have breath in this body. While the definition of beautiful comes in all different interpretations, when it comes to a woman’s skin, aging gracefully is something none of us can afford to ignore. Take the time to peruse the beauty counters and get yourself some samples of worthwhile serums, and find out for yourself how the ability to be one age and look another, with clear and radiant skin to boot, is a style sensation like no other!